Online Lab Simulations Used for Remediation in the Science Classroom

EDUC 587-630: Leadership in Middle Level ScienceUniversity of Pennsylvania

Christine Neal

BackgroundHaverford High School – Suburban public

high school in Delaware County9th grade Inquiry into the Physical Setting

(IPS)studentsGreat technology resources – Smart

board,class set of laptops

Demographics of IPS classes and the original subjects within those classes

ClassNumberofStudents in Class

Number of MaleStudents in Class

Number of FemaleStudents in Class

Ethnicity ofSubjects in Class

Number ofSubjects in Class

Number of MaleSubjects in Class

Number of FemaleSubjects in Class

Ethnicity of Subjects

1A (honors) 24 11 13

1 Asian23 White/Caucasian

18 5 13 18 White/Caucasian

2A (honors) 23 5 18

2 Asian21 White/Caucasian

18 5 132 Asian16 White/Caucasian

1B (academic) 20 10 10

2 Black18 White/Caucasian

12 6 62 Black10 White/Caucasian

2B (academic) 22 15 6

2 Black1 Asian19 White/Caucasian

14 12 22 Black12 White/Caucasian

Literature Review• Students who play video games think

differently (Prensky, 2001)• Students should try to answer a question that

is relevant to them (Curtis, 2001)• Kids’ lives are so rich with video games, CDs,

and MP3s, that they expect to be engaged all of the time (Prensky, 2005)

• Guessing and testing has been replaced by predicting and verifying predictions using computer software (Coffee, 1998)

Literature Review• Students are better equipped to analyze and

understand an abstract concept when they have used a simulation. (Sanchez, 2006)

• “Although students still prefer to play face-to-face, they now also give favorable ratings to the online version” (Bos and Shami, 2006)

• Students must grapple with science content in order to develop a deep understanding (Colburn, 2004)

Literature Review• Can online curriculum be used for

enrichment or remediation? (Surr, 2004)• When students need remediation, they must

be met where they are in terms of motivation needs as well as their need for age-appropriate prior knowledge and development. (Taylor, 1999)

• Simulations could be used concurrently with hands-on experiments in a powerful way. (Hennessy, 2006)

MethodologyPredictive question: Are online lab simulations effective in raising student achievement when used for remediation?

Prediction: Online lab simulations are effective in raising student achievement when used as remediation.

Methodology• Hands-on inquiry activity for circuits• Reflection on activity (pre-assessment)• Quiz on activity (pre-assessment)• Survey on activity• Students who earned below 80% on either

assessment completed an online lab simulation for remediation.

http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Generatorhttp://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Circuit_Construction_Kit_DC_Only

MethodologyReflection on activity (post-assessment)Quiz on activity (post-assessment)Survey on activityStudent interviews - the students who had

the highest and lowest average gains in each class

FindingsBlock 1A: Honors

Reflection Average Gain = 35 %Quiz Average Gain = 23%

Block 2A: HonorsReflection Average Gain = 20%Quiz Average Gain = 18%

FindingsBlock 1B: Academic

Reflection Average Gain = 26%Quiz Average Gain = 5%

Block 2B: AcademicReflection Average Gain = 35%Quiz Average Gain = 6%

Findings

FindingsStudent Interviews about simulation

• The concept of current flowing in a circuit was easier to see.

• Easier to set up• Less mistakes• Collected better data• Helped them score better on assessments

FindingsI decreased threats to the internal validity in

my quantitative research byGiving the pre-assessments and surveys

directly before and after implementation of simulation

Only initial scores below 80% were compared to the scores achieved after remediation

The tested group of subjects did not change

FindingsPossible Threats to the validity of this

quantitative research:• Testing – students may have performed better

simply because it was their second time• May have included bias due to the interaction

of the testing and the subjects’ knowledge of the research project as well as the interaction of the online lab simulations and the subjects which may only hold true to my subjects.

Conclusion• Online lab simulations do raise student

achievement when used for remediation. • Student written reflections show the

improvement of student understanding circuits better than quiz scores.

• Online lab simulations do allow students to better see what is happening on the microscopic level as suggested by Hennessy in his article (2006).

• Online lab simulations should not replace the hands-on version.